New Zealand Plants and their Collectors
18 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin PART 1
T EXT AND P HOTOGRAPHS The land on the Sea-Coast is high BY W ALT B UBELIS with steep cliffs, and back inland are very high mountains….the face of the Country is of a hilly surface and appeares to be cloathed with wood and Verdure.
—C APTAIN COOK ’S JOURNAL , 8 TH OCTOBER 1769
he Washington Park Arboretum (WPA) has had examples of New Zealand flora for many decades, most of them Tintegrated into the larger collection according to families. With the inception of the Pacific Connections Gardens in October, 2010, plants were grouped geographically (in this case, repre - sentative of all New Zealand, but with the upcoming New Zealand Forest focusing on the southwestern portion of the South Island). Coming in the spring of 2013, additional plants (over 10,000, mainly seed-collected in the wild and grown for the WPA) will be planted in seven areas representing ecozones of New Zealand. They are: Mountain Tussock, Mountain Beech, Griselinia Bush, Silver Beech, Hebe Heath, Snow Tussock and Phormium Fen. As many of these plants are already in local gardens (with new introductions forthcoming) this article pays homage to some of the explorers of various backgrounds who collected them and brought them to the attention of the botanic world. Of necessity, this is a representative slice of the explorers, many of whom often combined very different careers with their botanical explo - rations, some of them dying in the effort. Current Arboretum plants are notated as WPA-1, forth - coming plants (to be introduced in Spring of
LEFT: Raoulia subsericea INSET: Nothofagus solandri var cliffortioide s
Fall 2012 19 2013) as WPA-2. Note that the genus Hebe has Tasman and Cook had been preceded in been changed to Veronica ; for the purpose of “discovering” New Zealand by the Polynesians, this article, the term Hebe will be utilized, as evidently around 1280; their descendants are most gardeners are familiar with it, at least as known today as the Maori. Cook, who was the a common name. first European to circumnavigate and map the Plant collecting in New Zealand began in coast of New Zealand, anglicized Tasman’s October 1769 with Captain James Cook’s expedi - Nieuw Zeeland (after the Dutch province of tion, although the first European explorer to Zeeland) to New Zealand. discover New Zealand was the Dutchman, Abel Independently wealthy, Joseph Banks (later, Janszoon Tasman, in 1642. On board Cook’s Sir Joseph Banks; 1743-1820) brought along on ship were the botanist Joseph Banks and the Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, a retinue of nine naturalist Daniel Solander. Cook went to the servants; four draughtsmen; artists, including Pacific with two sets of instructions: first, to Sydney Parkinson; and one of Linnaeus’s study the transit of Venus and second (a secret) students, Daniel Solander. to search for the elusive “southern continent” When Cook’s party landed on what came (now known as Australia). to be called Poverty Bay on the North Island,
ABOVE: Phormium colensoi
20 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin the Maoris resisted them; skirmishes broke out produced no botanical collections. An 1824 on two later occasions, during which two Maoris survey did include two naturalists—Lieutenant were killed. Cook kept trying to find both a D’Urville and M. Lesson. Both collected speci - good harbor and receptive natives. After two mens at that time, but it was in 1827, when weeks, he succeeded farther up the coast in they returned to New Zealand, that they began Anaura Bay (which Cook called “Tegadoo”). collecting in earnest. Their results were Here, Banks and Solander began collecting published in 1832, with Achille Richard (1794- plants. Including ones collected on other sites, 1852), one of the foremost botanists of the day, the number eventually totaled 433 specimens. being responsible for seeing it to press. One of Once back in England, they prepared to the pampas grasses, Cortaderia richardii (WPA- publish their results. At his own expense, Banks 1)—a small, elegant and well-behaved form of had 700 plates engraved on copper; Solander this genus—is named for Richard. revised his manuscripts and arranged them The French reappeared in 1840 with Etienne systematically. But here progress on “Primitive Fiacre Louis Raoul (1815-1852) on board both Flora Novae Zealandiae” stalled for over two as a surgeon and as a botanist. He was the first centuries; their second planned voyage with botanist to explore the eastern side of the South Cook was dropped due to Cook’s unwillingness Island, where he discovered many new plants. to accommodate all of Banks’ scientific J.D. Hooker of Kew paid him recognition by apparatus. And with Solander dying un- naming the genuses Raoulia and Hebe expectedly in 1782, Banks perhaps became (Veronica ) raoulii for him. Raoulia is seen in pre-occupied with his duties at Kew, and as Pacific Northwest gardens; it is such a low, tight- President of the Royal Society (later, the Royal growing groundcover that it feels rubbery to the Horticulture Society). It was not until recently fingers. We can also thank Raoul for discovering that the British Museum picked up the work the broadleaf shrub/small tree Grisilinia littoralis and issued it in manuscript form. (WPA-1 and 2). Banks and Solander did go on one more joint Grisilinia is found not only in New Zealand expedition, to Iceland, on Bank’s initiative after but also in South America; it ranges from Chile the second voyage to the Pacific was canceled. to Argentina and southeast Brazil. Grisilinia Solander was commemorated by Banks with littoralis , or kapuka in Maori, is a small-to Nothofagus solanderi (WPA -1) and Olearia medium-sized broadleaf evergreen growing up solandri . As one of the southern beeches, this to 60 feet but more typically staying in the 15 Nothofagus —or mountain beech—is an evergreen to 25 foot range. It is a highly glossy-leaved shrub or tree that grows to 60 feet and up to plant previously classified in the dogwood family timberline in a shortened form. As with other but now in its own family (Grisiliniaceae). It members of this genus, the false beech name withstands salt spray in coastal settings. Various alludes to nuts resembling beech nuts that are variegated cultivars can be found. The WPA produced, in this case, three per fruit capsule. features old specimens; new ones will be set in Even during the Napoleonic Wars, Britain both the Phormium Fen and in the Grisilinia and France competed with each other for naming Bush gardens. rights of plants as well as in exploring distant A name familiar to Pacific Northwesterners lands. New Zealand continued to be a botanical is Archibald Menzies, who appeared in New destination from this point onward with visits by Zealand in 1791, serving onboard as surgeon the British, the French and the Americans—all during Captain Vancouver’s circumnavigation of of the expeditions being government sponsored. the world. Earlier, in 1786, Banks had recom - French explorers first landed in New Zealand mended Menzies to the Admiralty to act as in 1769, but this trip and an expedition in 1772 surgeon on a three-year voyage to the Pacific
Fall 2012 21 Griselinia littoralis ‘Dixon’s Cream’
22 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Northwest, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and The Ex Ex also explored the west coasts of China. Menzies collected plant specimens for South and North America, including the Kew. He is remembered in such plants as our Columbia River up to modern-day Portland and madrona ( Arbutus menziesii ); the Douglas fir Puget Sound. Many local landmarks bear names (Pseudotsuga menziesii ), which he documented given by Charles Wilkes, the captain of the on Vancouver Island in 1791 (with David expedition, two examples being Eagle Harbor Douglas introducing it into cultivation in 1827); and Port Ludlow. Much of the Expedition’s and in the shrub, Menziesia , a member of the collections of plants, animals and artifacts Ericaceae known as false azalea. became the basis of the newly formed Americans visited both the Bay of Islands Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Botanic and the Auckland Islands as part of the American Garden. Exploring Expedition (“Ex Ex” for short; 1838- Following closely on the heels of the Ex-Ex 42), whose mission was to explore and map the was the Antarctic Expedition (1839-41) of Captain Antarctic and islands of the South Pacific. James Ross of England. He, too, was to collect Collecting was done by the several naturalists plants, as well as explore and map the Antarctic in the group and, once back in America, given continent. On both the Auckland Islands, and over to Asa Gray of Harvard, the preeminent later the Bay of Islands, Joseph Dalton Hooker American botanist of the day. One publication (1817-1911) made the most of the short time on the phanerogams (plants that reproduce by (less than a month at each site) spent there. means of seeds and not spores) resulted from A turning point in botanical discovery was this epic vovage. realized in 1841. Hooker met William Colenso
ABOVE: Griselinia littoralis
Fall 2012 23 at the Bay of Islands when Captain Ross returned to New Zealand. Located at the tip of the North Island, this bay was named by Captain Cook in 1769 and became a convenient anchorage there - after. Hooker proceeded to explore with Colenso and gave him invaluable instruction on proper collecting procedures. Thereafter, further plant exploration was made almost entirely by the colonists themselves. Colenso (1811-99) was an avid explorer and botanist, acknowledged as such by Hooker, who named a number of plants in recognition of him. The Church Missionary Society of London sent Colenso to the Bay of Islands to run a small printing press. Underfunded and ill- equipped, he showed great ingenuity in printing various Biblical tracts and prayer books in Maori. His rapid grasp of the Maori language aided him in travelling into remote areas. Although he received some additional botan - ical training in 1838 from the Australian government botanist Allen Cunningham, Colenso’s approach—at times stuffing specimens down his shirt front—was less than orthodox. An earlier visit by Charles Darwin on the Beagle in 1835, and contact in 1841 with Hooker, gave him further inspiration. After leaving printing, he was ordained as a deacon. As his parishes covered a huge territory, he continued to collect as he made his way through the mountains. He later entered politics, which was not his forte, as he displayed a lack of tact and an inability to listen and compromise. Three plants named by Hooker for Colenso are represented here: Phormium colensoi (WPA-1), Poa colensoi (WPA- 2) and Pseudopanax colensoi (WPA-2). Phormium colensoi (WPA-1), and its many hybrids and cultivars, is suitable for the smaller garden, since its stiff leaves reach just half the height of P. tenax (six feet vs. 15 feet). Known as mountain flax, it appears hardier than P. tenax at the Arboretum, having survived some recent severe winters without damage, whereas most of the P. tenax succumbed. Conditions for growing are full sun and moderately fertile and moisture-retentive soil that is also well-drained—
24 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin which is especially important in our wet winters. Pseudopanax colensoi (WPA-2), or mountain Like Hooker before him, Colenso made note of ivy tree ( orihou in Maori), is one of those fasci - how the Maoris made use of the fiber for nating plants that changes in appearance as it clothing, mats and rope. goes though its growth phases. These lance - The New Zealand fescue, Poa colensoi woods typically have long, stiff, narrow juvenile (WPA-2), should come to prove in the future leaves clocking a tall, non-branched stem up to as attractive as other blue-leaved fescues 10 or more feet. In warmer climes, the adult already found in Pacific Northwest gardens. form would appear with new foliage bearing This particular one is widespread in New three to seven leaflets. This species is to be Zealand, ranging from the lowlands to high- found in the company of various tree ferns; the alpine areas often associated with Celmisia fruit, clusters of blackish berries, is said to be viscosa and C. sessiliflora, Aciphylla hectori, the favorite food of possums. Kelleria dieffenbachii, Luzula rufa, Anisotome Part 2 of this article will appear in the flexuosa and Raoulia grandiflora. I note with Winter 2013 issue of the “Bulletin.” interest that it has become a dominant feature of the Eastern Divide of the South Island tussock community. (Before European settle - WALT BUBELIS is the retired chair of the ment, the area was covered in forests some horticulture program at Edmonds 700-900 years ago; fire destroyed this habitat, Community College and serves on the leading to the tussock community.) “Bulletin” Editorial Board.
Not to be missed! December 5th 2012 PlantAmnesty’s once-a-decade, Celebrity Gardener Auction Gala and Dinner will be held in the evening at the Seattle Golf Club. Dan, Ciscoe, Marty, Valerie, Marianne, Linda, Cass, Phil, Janet, Lucy, Richie, Little & Lewis, Withey & Price, Lorene, Riz, and Ian will be there. Will you? Elegant and bright, delicious and delightfully fun. Join us. Find details for the Celebrity Gardener Dinner Auction online at plantamnesty.org .
Sponsored by Sky Nursery and Walt’s Organic Fertilizer Co.
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